Pieces of My Heart
by the.goal.is.greatness
Summary: "She belonged to me," he said simply. "She was, you know, all of the things I wasn't. And I was all of the things she wasn't. She can paint circles around people; I can't even draw a straight line. She was never into sports; I've always been. Her hand," he said, "it fit mine." [Oliver x Hermione] [drabble]


**Title:** Pieces of My Heart  
**Genre:** Romance / Drama  
**Rating:** K  
**Pairing:** Oliver x Hermione  
**Spoilers:** N/A  
**Summary:** "She belonged to me," he said simply. "She was, you know, all of the things I wasn't. And I was all of the things she wasn't. She could paint circles around people; I can't even draw a straight line. She was never into sports; I've always been." He lifted his outstretched palm and curled his fingers. "Her hand," he said, "It fit mine."  
**Word Count:** 755  
**Warnings:** Drabble. Post-series AU

**Disclaimer:** _Harry Potter_ belongs to the great J.K. Rowling. Summary is from _The Pact_ by Jodi Picoult.

**A/N:** Everyone could use more Oliver Wood in their lives, right?

* * *

It happens gradually, so gradually that it is impossible to see, tectonic plates shifting, constellations orbiting. Monumental and invisible, in one. Life-changing, world-altering moments that happened on a microscopic scale. Moments that fell into place, pieces of time that, bit by bit, drew two people together in a way that seemed natural and real.

At first there is nothing more than the comradery of their house. They are Gryffindors, pack, pride. There is a sense of immediate and permanent belonging between them the way there is with all members of their house. They were made of the same star-stuff, the same mortar, the same ink. Brave and daring and courageous. But there is nothing more than house pride and Quidditch and meals in the hall. There are no classes or stolen looks or moments with hidden meanings. It is friendship, but of circumstance, nothing more.

Then the war, the Battle, the lives lost, friends and family gone, lives torn apart. Then there is rebuilding, there is reimagining your life because what you had imagined before seemed so inconsequential and selfish and meaningless. They are drawn together by that sense of _pride pack friend_, compelled to step up even after everything, and _do more, be more_.

Hermione is, as always, the brains, the intellect, the battle strategist. Planning, perfecting, plotting out every move in a small office in the Ministry that is a whirlwind of organization, a chaos of control. There are budgets and schedules and timetables and planners and datebooks and letters and it is amazing that one person can keep track of so many things but, honestly, who could do it better than she? Her name is every byline on every article about where to go to donate your time, who to ask if you need help, how to do your part. She is a lioness, mind whirling as she plans out the hunt, poised and sure of herself, predatory and wild and assured.

Oliver is carefree and wild, he is white-toothed and charming. He sways purebloods to donate their money with a flash of dimples and a Scottish brogue. He has no plans, no schedule, just the feeling in his chest of wanting to do more, to repay, in whatever small way he can, the sacrifice and struggle and hurdles of a young man who'd given him both his only House Cup victory and a world in which to live. If the way he can repay that selflessness is to charm the money out of rich witches and wizards, then so be it.

Their paths cross once, twice, a few times, in hallways, meetings. She has an office. He doesn't. She works for the Ministry, gets a paycheck every two weeks and everything. He works freelance. They pass at the coffee machine, make small talk, remember old friends, good times. They laugh.

But one passing meeting turns into a request – a partnership – on a project. And that moment leads to more moments, leads to more conversations.

How's Ron? _On his honeymoon with Lavender_. Oh. _How's Katie? _She just proposed to Angelica last week. _That's amazing!_

Then there are more projects together and things slide into place in a way that they never have before. It is easy, the give and take, as seamless and tides coming and going, natural. Where he has a weakness, she has a strength. Where she has a flaw, he has a forte. She is brain and he is brawn. She is a powerhouse of go, go, go, while he is slow and steady. She is abrasive and demanding with others, he is carefree and charming. While Oliver has a head for delegating to other members of the office, Hermoine would take on every load herself.

It is as natural as iron fillings being drawn towards a magnet to fall into one other.


End file.
